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What appears bad may be God's plan for good
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Jul 25, 2009 5:39 pm
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"I am Joseph!" he said to his brothers. "Is my father still alive?" But his brothers were speechless! They were stunned to realize that Joseph was standing there in front of them. "Come over here," he said. So they came closer. And he said again, "I am Joseph, your brother whom you sold into Egypt. But don't be angry with yourselves that you did this to me, for God did it. He sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives. These two years of famine will grow to seven, during which there will be neither plowing nor harvest. God has sent me here to keep you and your families alive so that you will become a great nation. Yes, it was God who sent me here, not you! And he has made me a counselor to Pharaoh—manager of his entire household and ruler over all Egypt." Genesis 45:3-8 NLT
Homespun wisdom says, "If you fail to plan, you plan to fail." Although you won't find it put just that way in the Bible, you will find many stories of both effective and poor planning. The Bible teaches that God is a God of both purpose and planning. His purpose is to draw all humanity to himself in order to forgive and redeem. His plan from Creation, to the Law, to the Prophets, to Jesus and the church—is what we are seeing when we read and study the Bible. Planning is part of all of our lives. The only question is if, in all our planning, we ever consult his perfect and eternal plan.
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You Know Your Life Stinks When:
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Jul 25, 2009 8:26 am
744 Views
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A black cat crosses your path and drops dead.
You take an assertiveness training course and you're afraid to tell your wife.
The candles on your cake set off your smoke alarm.
Your chauffeur is on parole for car theft.
You have to take out a loan just to get money for the down payment.
Your children's school calls to surrender.
The bride's family throws rocks instead of rice.
Your wife wraps your lunch in a road map.
Your plants do better when you don't talk to them.
All your modeling jobs are for cartoonists.
Your engagement ring is, upon closer inspection, plastic.
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Where do we find God's presence?
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Jul 25, 2009 7:30 am
772 Views
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Open for me the gates where the righteous enter; and I will go in and thank the Lord. Those gates lead to the presence of the Lord, and the godly enter there. I thank you for answering my prayer and saving me! Psalm 118:19-21 NLT
The Lord is close to all who call on him, yes, to all who call on him sincerely. Psalm 145:18 NLT
Because of Christ and our faith in him, we can now come fearlessly into God's presence, assured of his glad welcome.
Ephesians 3:12 NLT
Psalm 118 pictures a victorious yet battle-weary king at the helm of a throng of grateful people entering the gates of the temple to thank God for saving them. During those times, the temple represented God's presence the place where followers would go to pray to the Lord. Today, we enter into God's presence in a car, at work, or in the aisles of a grocery store wherever we take time to pray to him. We can be sure God hears our prayers and answers each one wherever and whenever they are uttered. And by doing so, he gives us even more reasons to pray.
Just like the victorious king in this psalm, we should enter God's presence by thanking him for answering prayers. What answers to prayer are you thankful for today?
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